Hey everybody, my sincerest apologies for not updating this fic in like...forever. Because of the length of time between this update and the last one, there won't be any responses to reviews, for those of you who were hoping for it, I apologize once again. Now for a quick recap of what has happened so far: in the last chapter, Naruto and Sasuke faced off with each other and Naruto revealed a few of his secrets(His Sharingan, his First and Second Hokage puppet, his abilities to use Wood Style, and his Uchiha puppet turned out to be Sasuke's Uncle). Sasuke unlocked his clans Blaze Style, but still lost the match and Naruto was named the winner. Shikamaru won his match against Tenten, Kankuro killed Misumi with a new poison he got from Naruto, and Naruto took away Sakura's ability to sire children, and of course I left you guys with the suspenseful cliffhanger of Ino and Hinata's match.

Well now that that's taken care of, we can get on with the chapter!

I own nothing

Chapter 11- Kunoichi Cat Fight!

"Will Ino Yamanaka and Hinata Hyuuga please come down?"

Life in the arena seemed to stop as the two kunoichi starred each other down, their killing intent rolling off of them in waves. Even the seasoned jounin senseis, the Clan Heads and the Hokage were having trouble handling the killing intent. The only one, who seemed remotely unaffected, despite their close proximity to one of the sources of killing intent, was Naruto himself. Despite the murderous atmosphere around him, Naruto seemed to just brush it off as nothing. 'Well this match certainly won't end without bloodshed, Hinata's jealous about Ino-chan being my girlfriend, and Ino-chan's become a lot more possessive ever since we got together,' thought Naruto as a smirk spread across his face, 'Even poor Hayate down their seems to be having trouble handling the killing intent. Oh well, guess I'd better do something to get this match started before everyone here goes into cardiac arrest because of the killing intent.'

"Good luck Ino-chan," said Naruto, catching Ino's attention and cutting off her killing intent, causing many to sigh in relief at the loss of tension in the atmosphere, though they were still wary of Hinata. Pulling his girlfriend into a hug, Naruto whispered into her ear, "Don't hold back, she'll do everything she can to kill you in this match, do the same." Ino nodded in understanding before ending the hug and jumping over the railing, ready to get the fight under way. This seemed to get Hinata's attention as she jumped down and landed across from Ino, already in her family's taijutsu stance. Still shaken from the killing intent that the two kunoichi unleashed, Hayate managed to start the match before he retreated to stand next to the Hokage.

Hinata didn't waste a second, the second Hayate started the match, she charged forward with her palm cocked back and ready to strike. Seeing the completely lethal strike, Ino pulled a kunai out of her holster and threw it at the charging Hyuuga's feet. Hinata jumped over the kunai, but received a palm to the face instead. Ino landed on the ground before charging at the prone Hyuuga heiress, who was slowly getting to her feet. Thanks to her Byakugan, Hinata saw Ino's punch that was aimed for her stomach. Twisting her body out of the way of the punch, Hinata used the opening it presented and struck a pressure point in Ino's neck, cutting the flow of blood to her brain. Jumping away from the now lifeless body, Hinata smirked, thinking that Naruto was hers now. Her smirk vanished though, when Ino's body disappeared in a poof of smoke, revealing it to be a shadow clone.

"So you really are aiming to kill me," said Ino's voice. Hinata whirled around trying to find the voice, only to receive and spin kick to the face instead. Ino landed in a crouch as she watched Hinata slowly get her bearings back from the kick. "Tell me Hinata, why are you so angry at me? What have I done to warrant you wishing to kill me?" asked Ino genuinely curious. She was well aware that Hinata had a huge crush on Naruto, but with the way she was reacting to the two of them simply being near each other, was borderline obsession.

"Why?" repeated Hinata with a glare so harsh, she would have given Orochimaru a run for his money. "Because you took away the one thing that should have been mine," said Hinata, her gaze darting to Naruto for a second before returning to glaring at Ino. "Naruto-kun was my inspiration, the way he carried himself, the power he concealed from everybody, everything about him inspired me. Ever since we started the Academy, all you and every other girl cared about was Sasuke, you never cared for Naruto-kun, but I did. I don't know what your plan is, but I won't let you use Naruto-kun just so you can break his heart later!" screamed Hinata before she charged at the Yamanaka heiress, murder blazing in her Byakugan.

Ino simply dodged the sloppy strikes, Hinata's anger and fury causing her to lose focus of her attacks. Ino, meanwhile, had a look of understanding on her face, 'Now I get it, her love and obsession for Naruto-kun isn't what she thinks it is at all. She truly does care for Naruto-kun, but it's a sisterly love, she's just blinded herself to that fact.' Ino dodged another sloppy Jyuuken strike from the enraged heiress and quickly made eye contact with her boyfriend, creating a small mental link between them with her families mind jutsu. 'Naruto-kun, can you hear me?' she asked mentally as she continued to dodge Hinata's attempts on her life.

With Naruto

'Naruto-kun, can you hear me?' a familiar female voice asked inside Naruto's head, surprising both jinchuuriki and bijuu. 'Wha… Ino-chan, how are you in my head?' asked Naruto mentally, while Kurama raised a fox equivalent to an eyebrow in interest at the conversation he was hearing.

Down in the arena, Ino smirked slightly at catching her boyfriend off guard, 'My clans mind based jutsu allows us to create small mental connections between ourselves and others. I just figured out something very interesting about Hinata that explains a lot about her behavior recently.' Ino's voice said over the mind link. Naruto nodded slightly in understanding before asking her to continue. 'Well based her little outburst, I've come to the conclusion that she really does care for you Naruto-kun, just not in the way she thinks. Her love for you is a sisterly love, but since she doesn't have a brother of her own, she doesn't know the difference between the love of a brother and actual love. Her over protective and slightly obsessive nature about you is just her sisterly instincts to try and protect you from anyone who would try and harm you, and that's exactly what she thinks I'm trying to do,' said Ino as she ducked under another palm thrust from Hinata and countered with a kick to the Hyuuga's stomach, giving her enough time to jump away from Hinata and drew a kunai.

'Then we have to find a way to make her realize this, the only question is how?' thought Naruto as he contemplated possible ways of solving the problem. Both Ino and Naruto were brought out of their thoughts by the sound of new voice in their mental link, a rather demonic one.

'What about having Ino use her clans Mind Transfer Jutsu to enter the Hyuuga girls mind and explain things that way?' asked Kurama; Ino was about to agree to the idea, but Naruto beat her to it. 'No it's too risky, Hinata is so full of rage that if Ino-chan confronts her alone, it could just escalate the situation. I'll have to be present when we confront her, it's the only way I can see of getting through to Hinata,' said Naruto, unaware of the growing smirk on his girlfriend's face.

'Naruto-kun, you're a genius, brace yourself against something, I'm about to make my move,' said Ino as she made a couple of hand signs, before aiming her left hand, palm out, towards the charging Hinata and her right, towards Naruto. Said jinchuuriki barely had time to recognize the jutsu Ino was about to use, before he felt his mind leaving his body.

Kiba and Kakashi had been watching the match with interest, but had turned their attention to Naruto after Hinata's small outburst. They watched as Naruto's face contorted in and out of confusion and concentration before they noticed Ino arms pointing at the blonde jinchuuriki. Confused by this move, they were about to ask the other blonde of team 7 what was going on, until his body went limp and began to fall to the floor. Kakashi moved to catch Naruto's body before looking into the arena and sure enough, both Ino and Hinata's bodies were lying limp on the floor.

"What the hell is going on?" asked Kiba out loud as he looked from the two bodies in the arena to the body his sensei had leaned against the wall.

"Looks like Naruto and Ino are confronting Hinata together, we'll just have to wait and see how things go," said Kakashi with a sigh before he pulled a familiar orange book out his weapons pouch and began reading, "This could take a while, might as well get comfortable," said Kakashi, loud enough for everyone in the arena to hear, knowing that many had turned their gaze to the remainder of team 7 when the three genin had passed out.

With the Hokage

'Hmmm, I wonder what is going on between those three,' thought Sarutobi as he watched the three unconscious bodies with interest. 'Whatever it is, if Naruto is involved in it, then it will surely cause drastic changes to the village,' he thought as a smirk grew on his face at the things his surrogate grandson could be up to. His smirk vanished however when another thought entered his head, 'The last time Naruto did something that changed the village, the paperwork on my desk more than doubled. Damn it Naruto, I swear if you cause me to have any more paperwork I swear I'll…' thought the Hokage, his thoughts turning dark towards the end.

"Umm, Hokage-sama, what should we do? Naruto Uzumaki has technically interfered with the match, but I don't know for whom," said Hayate, bringing the Hokage out of his dark thoughts concerning his favorite blonde headache.

"Then do nothing, we do not know what is happening, or that Naruto has actually interfered with the match. It could very well be that Naruto was still fatigued from his match and passed out, there is no indication that Naruto has done anything to break any of the rules," said Sarutobi in a sage like voice, his many years of experience showing through.

"That may be Hokage-sama, but even if Naruto-san hasn't interfered, both participating kunoichi are unconscious and cannot continue. The match should be called as a draw," said Hayate, only to receive a look that clearly said 'are you stupid.'

"If you were paying attention to the competitors in this match, one of them is the heiress to the Yamanaka Clan. It is common knowledge that their specialty lies in mind based ninjutsu; one of their more famous ones even allows them to transfer their minds into their opponent's body. Young Ino and Hinata are most likely battling for dominance inside of the young Hyuuga's body. The match will continue until there is a clear winner, understood?" said the Hokage in a voice the left no room for argument. Hayate merely nodded in understanding, not wanting to argue with his leader when he was like this.

With the Clan Heads- At the start of the match

"This is a truly impressive match," said Shibi Aburame as he and the other clan heads watched the two kunoichi engage in taijutsu, "You should both be proud, your daughters are showing great skill in this match," he said looking over at Inoichi and Hiashi. Inoichi nodded in appreciation with a small smile on his face, Hiashi on the other hand scowled while he watched the match with his Byakugan.

"Hinata is weak, if she acted like a true Hyuuga, this match would have been over after the first strike," said Hiashi, causing frowns to spread across the faces of the other clan heads, while Inoichi scowled at the Hyuuga head.

"Are you implying that my daughter is weak?" said Inoichi in a voice that his team mates knew all too well. 'Shit, not good, I've only heard Inoichi use that tone once before, and that was when someone insulted his wife. Hiashi just insulted Inoichi's daughter… this won't end well,' was the shared thought of Shikaku and Choza as they watched Inoichi's hand twitch slightly, before they made their move.

Inoichi reached into a hidden pocket inside his jacket and pulled a kunai before he swung at the arrogant Hyuuga clan head. If it wasn't for his Byakugan being activated, Hiashi never would have seen the attack coming. Whirling around, ready to deflect the strike and counter with one of his own, Hiashi was met with the sight a furious Inoichi Yamanaka. The only thing keeping the Yamanaka clan head from shredding Hiashi into ribbons was the timely interference of the remaining members of the Ino-Shika-Cho formation. Shikaku had trapped Inoichi in his shadow, but was forced to use his clans Shadow Strangle to further hold back his team mate, Choza was forced to enlarge his hands to help hold down Inoichi, but even then it was proving difficult.

"You bastard, I'll kill you for talking about my daughter like that!" screamed the enraged Yamanaka as he glared at Hiashi with murder in his eyes. Said Hyuuga clan head, merely ignored the death glare and deactivated his Byakugan before turning to the leave the arena.

"You let your emotions control your actions, you are a poor excuse for a shinobi, and your daughter is no different," said Hiashi as he continued to walk away from the other clan heads.

"Hiashi-san, are you not going to stay and watch the rest of your daughters match?" asked Shibi in his usual Aburame monotone; though behind his grey jacket he was frowning slightly. He and his clan may not show much emotion, but they would never think of ignoring one of their own like Hiashi was ignoring Hinata.

"No, she has proven herself to be weak and unfit to be a member of the Hyuuga Main House. Once these exams are over, she will be branded with the Cage Bird Seal and placed in the Branch Family where she belongs." None of the clan heads could believe what they were hearing, for a father to speak so easily about doing such a thing to his own daughter, was just unthinkable.

"How can someone do that to their pup, it's disgusting," said Tsume as her partner Kuromaru growled at the retreating Hyuuga.

"We may not approve of it, but there is nothing that we can do about, it is their clans tradition," said Shibi, though if one listened close enough, they could hear the small amount of distain that slipped through his normal monotone. The other clan heads reluctantly nodded in agreement before they turned back to the match just as Ino, Hinata and Naruto collapsed.

"Looks like your daughter is finally making her move," said Choza as he watched the unconscious bodies of Ino and Hinata.

"So it seems, but I wonder what your daughter has planned by bringing Naruto into the jutsu," said Tsume who watching her sons team mates unconscious body.

"I think I might know, but we will just have to wait and see," said Inoichi as the minutes continued to tick by.

With Naruto, Ino and Hinata

Three young genin stood across from one another in a triangular shape in darkness that seemed to go on forever. Slowly, the color returned to their bodies revealing a very confused Hinata, a frowning Naruto and smirking Ino.

"What the… where am I?" asked Hinata as she put her hands on her head, trying to slow the spinning in her head. It took a few minutes, but Hinata finally managed to compose herself, and thanks to her still activated Byakugan, noticed she wasn't alone. "Naruto-kun," said Hinata as she raised her head to look at the blonde shinobi that across from her. Naruto however, was looking at his girlfriend with a raised eyebrow, who just smirked at him in response.

"Alright Ino-chan, what the heck is going through that little head of yours?" asked Naruto, making Hinata finally take notice of the blonde kunoichi who had stolen Naruto from her.

"You bitch, I'll kill you!" screamed Hinata as she tried to charge at the still smirking blonde kunoichi, only to find she couldn't move. Naruto and Ino turned and watched as Hinata struggled against the invisible force that was holding her. She stopped struggling after a few minutes before turning to glare at Ino, "What the hell did you do to me?"

"I did nothing but bring us here, and just so you know, I can't move either," said Ino as she struggled to move her own body but only succeeded in moving her arms. "The jutsu I used is called the Mind Convergence Jutsu; it allows the users mind and the targets mind to meet in a space apart from their bodies. The only drawback with this jutsu though, is that the users mind isn't in control, the mind with the strongest will has control over everything that happens in this place," said Ino as she turned to head to look at her boyfriend, with Hinata her gaze. Naruto simply raised an eyebrow before sighing and taking a few steps forward, "As you can see, Naruto-kun is the dominant presence here, and therefore the one in control. You and I can't do anything unless he allows it."

"Well that explains things," said Naruto before he turned to Hinata and pointed at her eyes. To the utter shock of Hinata, and even Ino, Hinata's Byakugan deactivated itself before a small seal appeared on Hinata's forehead. "There, with that seal on you, you won't be able to use chakra," said Naruto before turning to Ino and pointing at her forehead, the same seal appearing on her as well.

"Hey, why'd you put one of me!?" asked Ino, her annoyance seeping into her voice.

"Because I don't want either of you trying to kill the other while we talk this out," said Naruto as he looked between the two kunoichi. "Now, we're all going to sit down, relax and talk this out until we come to an understanding, got it?" Ino nodded without hesitation, finally seeing where her boyfriend was going with this. Hinata wouldn't cooperate with them, if she was the only one who was being restricted, but with both of them restricted, and Naruto acting as a mediator, they might just get somewhere.

"But where are we going to sit Naruto-kun, last I checked we're in an endless expanse of darkness," said Hinata. Naruto merely glanced at her before snapping his fingers and the darkness around them vanished. The two kunoichi looked around the new room Naruto had created, and gasped at the sheer beauty of the room. The circular room was made of marble that had elegant carvings of the nine bijuu lining the walls. The glass ceiling was being supported by nine gold pillars, each with the name of one of the bijuu engraved into it. In the center of the room was a small circular table with three chairs around it, each one lined with a fine velvet material.

"Now, if you two would please take a seat," said Naruto as he moved to one of the chairs, Ino following shortly after. Having no other choice, Hinata walked towards the only remaining chair and took a seat, waiting for Naruto to start things off. "Let's begin shall we, Hinata, I know you have feelings for me," said Naruto causing Hinata to blush crimson, "But, your feelings are not what you think they are."

"But I love you Naruto-kun, why can't you see that!?" said Hinata as she tried to stand up, only to find herself held down by the same force as before. Naruto merely glanced over at the now crying heiress before sighing.

"I do see it Hinata," said Naruto causing the Hyuuga heiress to stop struggling from surprise, "But what you feel is not romantic love, but more of a sisterly love for a brother." Hinata looked like she was going to argue, but Ino cut her off.

"Hinata, why do you think you're so nervous around Naruto-kun?" she said, getting a glare from the heiress that was mixed with some confusion. "You're nervous because your heart and your mind are fighting each other, causing you to have mental lapses that are often associated and accompanied by feinting spells." Hinata was about to argue that fact, and rip Ino a new one, but she found it impossible to speak, or open her mouth for that matter.

"Hinata you need to listen to what Ino-chan is saying, you may not like her, but you cannot argue the fact that she knows more about the human mind than you and I combined," said Naruto before he waved his hand slightly, allowing Hinata to speak again. Said heiress went to argue with Ino, but found herself unwilling to and just sat and listened as Ino started up again.

"Hinata, do you know why your heart and mind fight each other Naruto-kun?" asked Ino, but receiving no answer decided to continue, "It's because your heart sees him as the brother figure you never had, but your forcing your mind to think that those sibling like feelings for him, is actually a romantic kind of love." Hinata said nothing, but it was somewhat satisfying to the two blondes, that she had a thoughtful expression on her face. 'Good, she's at least thinking about what we're saying. Now let's try and get her to realize that we're right,' thought Ino before she asked the question that would either set Hinata free, or condemn her, "Hinata how do you truly feel about Naruto-kun, when you think of him, what goes through your mind?"

"I want to make sure he's safe, that no one will try and take advantage of him and that he's happy," said Hinata, her voice somewhat devoid of emotion. What neither kunoichi noticed though, was Naruto's pinky finger twitch slightly just before Hinata answered. 'Sorry Hinata, but you needed to get over this silly crush before it consumed you. You'll thank me for this one day,' thought Naruto.

"You see Hinata, those thoughts and feelings are those of sister. You want to make sure Naruto-kun's happy, and deep down, you know that you don't see him the way you've said you do," said Ino before she looked over at Naruto, a silent question in her eyes. Naruto nodded in understanding and waved his hand slightly; Ino smiled and stood up from her seat before walking over to Hinata and wrapping her arm around the now crying Hyuuga heiress. "Come on Hinata, you may not be happy that Naruto isn't the one for you, but there is someone else you know that is very similar to Naruto in more ways than one." Hinata looked up at Ino, a small spark of curiosity and hope in her lavender eyes.

"Really," she asked, her voice strangled from her silent sobs. Ino smiled slightly and pulled the Hyuuga heiress out of her seat and wrapped her into a hug.

"Really," Ino whispered, "Though you may want to give the mutt a flee bath and train him up a little first." Hinata pulled away from the hug slightly and looked at Ino with a confused expression on her face, before what Ino said finally sank in.

"Kiba?" she asked before she felt another hand on her shoulder. Ino and Hinata turned slightly to see Naruto with a small smirk on his lips.

"Kiba," Naruto said with a nod of his head, "You didn't feint Hinata, looks like you finally got your heart and mind to agree."

"Yeah, I guess I did," said Hinata with a small smile, before it turned into a smirk, "After all, it would be kind of weird to date you niisan. I feel sorry for you Ino; you've got your hands full with him." Naruto and Ino starred at the smirking heiress in utter shock, causing her to let out a small string of giggles. It was Ino who got over her shock first, a smirk of her own spreading across her lips.

"Oh he's not that bad, though I think he needs to go through some remedial training," said Ino with a wink at her boyfriend who was sputtering slightly. Shaking his head to regain his composure, Naruto smirked at his girlfriend and newly realized little sister, a very dark and sinister smirk that Ino knew all too well.

"If the two of you forgot, I have complete control in this place," said Naruto and with a snap of his fingers they were back in the endless expanse of darkness.

"Oh we didn't forget, but I know a way to remove that control from you," said Ino before she formed a ram seal and the three genin found themselves back in the arena. Ino turned to look up at her now standing boyfriend, only to see him glaring at her halfheartedly. Turning back to Hinata, she smiled slightly when she noticed the Hyuuga already back in her opening stance. "Shall we finish our match Hinata?" said Hyuuga's only response was to charge forward, a small smile on her lips. Ino smiled as well and matched Hinata's charge with her own, engaging the Hyuuga heiress in taijutsu.

With the Hokage

'Something's different about those two, their attacks are strong, but they aren't aiming to kill like they were before,' thought Sarutobi, but he almost thought he was mistaken when he saw Ino swing a kunai that would have sliced open Hinata's throat. That was until he noticed Ino slightly alter the trajectory of the kunai so it was easier to block, and if it wasn't the attack wouldn't be lethal. 'They really aren't aiming to kill each other. Something must've happened during their time unconscious, but it seems they don't want anyone else to know about.' The Hokage turned his head slightly to see his surrogate grandson out of the corner of his eyes. Naruto seemed to sense eyes on him and turned to meet the Hokage's gaze, mouthing 'Later' before turning his attention back to the match.

In the Arena

"Well, it's been fun Hinata, but I think it's time we ended this little match of ours," said Ino before she started going through hand signs, ending with the bird sign. "Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu," said Ino before rearing her head back and launching large bullet of water at a shocked Hinata. Quickly going another set of hand signs, Ino finished in the dog sign this time, "Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet," this time Ino let loose a spinning bullet of wind from her mouth that quickly merged with her water bullet. Hinata didn't have a chance to react as the concussive water bullet hit her head on a knocked into the wall, blissfully unconscious.

Hayate jumped back down into the arena, his face betraying the shock he felt at seeing not one, but two clan heirs use jutsu that weren't there clan based jutsu. This look of shock was mirrored by most of the clan heads, the only exception being Shibi Aburame who merely raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. Kneeling next to the unconscious body of Hinata, Hayate checked her over and found her to be unconscious. Turning back to face the gathered ninja, Hayate spoke in a strangled voice as he held back a coughing fit.

"Winner: Ino Yamanaka," said Hayate. The other members of team 7 all clapped for Ino, as well as the Sand Siblings, but none were more proud then Inoichi who was silently crying anime tears in happiness. Ino made her way up to her team and was greeted with a smiling Naruto who immediately pulled her into a hug. Ending the hug with a quick kiss on the lips, Ino turned and saw Kiba smiling at her with Akamaru barking his happiness from his place on Kiba's shoulders. Kakashi was reverting back to his typical lazy self and merely gave a halfhearted peace sign before pulling out his favorite book and began reading. Said book was snatched from him by a very irritated Ino who's right eyebrow was twitching dangerously while she glared at her perverted sensei. Chuckling slightly, Kakashi congratulated Ino before snatching his book back and stowing it in his weapons pouch. Before Ino could rip into her sensei for the little stunt, Hayate decided to intervene and begin the final round of the prelims. "The final match, will Gaara of the Desert and Yoroi Akado please come down," it seemed Yoroi was rather impatient to begin his match and jumped over the railing, landing in front of Hayate. Gaara, on the other hand, simply turned and begin to slowly walk towards the steps that led into the arena.

"Hey Gaara," called Naruto stopping his fellow jinchuuriki's walk to his match. Slowly turning to face the blonde, Gaara raised an eyebrow in a silent question. "Make this quick would you, I want to hurry up and get out of here," said Naruto a smirk spreading across his lips. Gaara simply smirked in return before continuing on his way to the arena. Once Gaara was standing across from Yoroi, Hayate began to go through his regular proceedings.

"The ninth match; Gaara of the Desert vs. Yoroi Akado, are the two of you ready?" getting a nod from Yoroi and a lazy stare from Gaara, Hayate brought his arm down before jumping away, "BEGIN!"

Yoroi quickly drew a kunai and charged at the Shukaku jinchuuriki, only to be stopped by a wave of sand catching him from behind. Gaara raised his right arm causing the sand to wrap around Yoroi before lifting him up into the air.

"Pathetic," was the last thing Yoroi heard before Gaara closed his hand into a fist and the sand compressed and Yoroi was no more. With his opponent dead, Gaara turned away and began his walk back to his siblings and his friends, his sand going back inside his gourd as he went. Hayate blinked a few times to convince himself that he had just witnessed one of the shortest matches he had ever seen. Shacking off his surprise at the quick match, Hayate called for a medical team to take the body away before addressing the crowd.

"Winner by death: Gaara of the Desert. With that, the prelims are complete, if all of those who won their match would please come down, we will proceed to determining the matches for the finals." All of the genin who won their match made their way down to Hayate and lined up in front of him, waiting for further instructions. "Now, if each of you would please draw a number from the box that Anko is holding, we will determine the matches for the finals." Anko stepped forward and began going down the line of genin, glaring slightly at team 7 as she went. 'Guess she's still sore about us reversing her scare attempt on her, oh well,' thought all of the members of team seven as they drew their numbers. Once everyone had a number, Hayate asked them to read them off in the same order they drew them.

"5"

"2"

"8"

"6"

"1"

"3"

"9"

"4"

"7"

Ibiki, who had been writing something on a clipboard every time a number was said, turned the clipboard so the genin could see.

"Alright, the first match will be Naruto Uzumaki vs. Neji Hyuuga, followed by Kiba Inuzuka vs. Rock Lee for the second match. The third match is Kankuro vs. Gaara, and then Shikamaru Nara will face Temari for the fourth match. Ino Yamanaka will have a first round bypass and will face the winner of the fourth match," said Hayate. The Hokage stepped forward at the moment and took over for Hayate as he went into a coughing fit.

"Now, the finals will be held in a month's time, I recommend that all of you use this time to train and prepare for your matches. Now, your jounin sensei's will escort you back to the village, I hope to see how each of you has improved," said the Hokage before dismissing everybody and leaving with the clan heads following close behind.

With team 7- Training ground 7- One hour later

"Well team, we have a month before the finals, let's get to work shall we?" said Kakashi as stood in front of his team, "Now Kiba, your opponent is a taijutsu specialist, and knowing Guy like I do, he is also insanely fast. We need to up yours and Akamaru's speed and improve on your taijutsu to the point where its second nature to you." Kiba nodded in understanding, while Akamaru just wagged his tail showing he understood. "Ino, you told me that you got a lot of information on medical jutsu from Orochimaru's spy right?" he asked getting a nod of confirmation from the female blonde. "Good, work with that for the month, it would be good for us to have a medic on the team. Now Naruto, your opponent is considered a prodigy of the Hyuuga clan, and even though you know almost everything about their Byakugan and their taijutsu style, you don't know about their clan's secrets kinjutsu. I want you to break into the compound and raid their library, the more you know about your two dojutsu the better, so it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to take a peek inside the Uchiha compound as well."

"Got it sensei, you too get to work, I'll be back tomorrow," said Naruto before giving Ino a quick kiss and high fiving Kiba. The remaining members of team 7 watched as Naruto jumped off towards the Uchiha compound, before getting started on their training. Kiba and Kakashi engaged in a taijutsu spar while Ino sat under a tree and began meditating on everything she learned about medical jutsu from Kabuto.

With Naruto

Our favorite blonde shinobi was jumping through the trees at his top speed, easily avoiding any other ninja that came across his path. Stopping on the roof of a building that overlooked the Uchiha compound, Naruto extended his senses to check over the area. 'Hmmm, four large chakra signatures within a hundred yard radius of the main Uchiha home, and judging by the way their being suppressed, there's no doubt their Anbu. I guess the old man doesn't trust that bastards mental health either, oh well, getting past those four shouldn't be too hard,' thought Naruto. He was about to jump towards the compound before his senses picked up on two more chakra signature, 'What, Anbu never operate in teams of six.' Closing his eyes, Naruto focused his senses on the faint trace of the two signatures, 'Their chakra is more controlled, but at the same time suppressed to the point that even a highly trained sensor would have trouble finding them.' 'You're right kit, if it wasn't for my natural animal instincts, even I would have a hard time finding them,' said the voice of Naruto's demonic tenant.

'Hey Kurama, good to hear from you, you've been oddly quite lately,' said Naruto to his tenant as he kept his senses alert, watching the two unknown ninja carefully. 'Yeah sorry kit, I've been thinking over a few things for the past few days,' Naruto raised an eyebrow slightly at that answer, 'Really, and what have you been thinking about?' Kurama stayed silent for a few moments choosing his next words wisely.

'My creation.'

Well everybody, let me know how I did. I don't expect a lot of reviews for this chapter since I haven't updated in months. Sorry to everybody who was hoping for an all out, crazy ass cat fight between Ino and Hinata, but I needed to work the match in a way so that Hinata would get over Naruto and start to like Kiba instead.

Well, until next time then!

BSW